This invention pertains to toy aircraft gliders. In particular, this invention pertains to a glider designed to be launched by a slingshot and having retractable wings, the ability to eject smaller toys while airborne, sound effects and remote control steering features in order to enhance performance, toy-life and enjoyment.
Slingshot-propelled gliders with retractable wings designed to minimize air resistance during launch, but which deploy to a fully-extended position after launch, are well known in the prior art. Many variations of hinges and pivots to retract and deploy the wings have been described. In much of the prior art, each wing rotates around a single axis in order to retract or deploy. In such designs, however, the wings remain in a horizontal plane at all times. An example is U.S. Pat. No. 2,538,533 issued to E. K. Jackle, where both wings are fixed horizontally by a single vertical pin located in the fuselage near the nose of the glider. The wings rotate around the vertical fuselage pin to retract to launch position and deploy to flight position.
An alternative design in the prior art allows each wing to rotate around two axes. A wing rotates from a horizontal to a vertical position around one axis and rotates towards the tail around a second axis. This retraction of a wing using two axes of movement allows each of the wing surfaces to be in a vertical plane when retracted. The advantage of a two-axis design over a single-axis design is that the air pressure against the planar surfaces of vertically retracted wings will hold them in a retracted position longer than the same amount of air pressure exerted upon the thin edges of horizontally retracted wings. The longer the wings stay in a retracted position, the greater the launch height that can be achieved.
Most of the prior art two-axis designs employ the same rubber band or spring to counter-rotate the retracted wings, around each axis, into their flight position. An example is U.S. Pat. No. 1,920,746 issued to R. M. Guillow. The disadvantage of these single rubber band or spring designs is that the amount of force acting to counter-rotate the wings away from the tail cannot be independently set from the amount of force acting to counter-rotate the wings from a vertical position to the horizontal flight position. The force holding the wings in a retracted position must be minimized to achieve maximum launch height. The vertical to horizontal counter-rotational force must be made sufficiently large to hold the wings at the proper flight angle. When the same rubber band or spring acts along both axes, the force counter-rotating the wings away from the tail is larger than the force holding the wings in their flight position, resulting in a sacrifice of either launch height or wing stability, or both. U.S. Pat. No. 2,268,487 issued to J. M. H. Jacobs appears to be the only two-axis design which incorporates an independent rubber band or spring along each axis.
A variety of rubber band and spring configurations used to counter-rotate the wings in both one-axis and two-axis designs have been described in the prior art. The various combinations of wing rotating mechanisms have, however, required external rubber bands or springs, which are subject to damage during the launch or landing of the toy gliders. A weakness in the Jacobs design is that it teaches the use of only two rubber bands or springs for accomplishing the counter-rotation of the wings, one for each axis. This requires both wings to share both of these rubber bands or springs, and Jacobs does not teach how to accomplish this without externally exposing the rubber bands or springs.
The prior art also describes mechanisms for the airborne release of smaller toy objects from the toy glider. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,417,267, issued to H. M. Porter, a smaller toy can be held against the fuselage of a slingshot-propelled glider by a combination of a projection from the fuselage, a slot in either of the wings, and a loop on the smaller toy. When the wings deploy in flight, the weight of the smaller toy allows its loop to slide off the fuselage projection when the glider turns slightly in that direction.
In U.S. Pat. No. Re 25,734, issued to A. H. Boese, a rocket-shaped, slingshot-propelled toy includes two hollow half-sections hinged together at the nose section. The two halves are held together at the tail of the rocket by rubber bands wrapped around both sections and held in place by the hand of the person launching the rocket. A smaller toy can be placed inside the hollow halves of the rocket. After launch, the rubber bands securing the tail unravel, and a spring in the nose hinge at the nose forces the two half-sections to open. This allows the smaller toy to fall from the rocket.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,136,067, issued to E. A. Witte, a figure-shaped metal plate forms the bottom portion of the toy glider fuselage. Above this plate, inside the fuselage, is packed a parachute attached to the figure. The feet of the figure are struck by the wings when deployed, which disengages the figure from the fuselage, allowing it to drop from the glider. Hence, the prior art mechanisms can release a smaller toy upon wing deployment, but rely on gravity to separate the smaller toy from the flight toy.
The prior art does not describe enhancements to increase interest in these slingshot launchable toy gliders other than the in-flight release of smaller toys. The prior art does not describe enhancements which emit sound from the toy gliders or which provide for control of the toy glider's flight path after launch.